The children of Simon Z. and Susan Block: Familial connecions

Simon Z. and Susan Block had 11 children and 10 of them married into prominent families in early 19th-century Missouri. (Daughter Rosanna died as a child in 1829.) The first child to marry was Delia, who married her cousin, Phineas Block, at age 15 in 1823. Phineas was a successful businessman in Pike County, Missouri, and St. Louis.

Two of the Block children married children of John Juden Sr. Eldest son, Moses Block, married Sarah Juden. The oldest Block daughter, Abbey, married John Juden Jr. They were among the founders of the First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau in 1834, and John served as its first clerk and deacon. Juden also served as County Clerk, Circuit Clerk and County Collector of Cape Girardeau County in the early 1820s. The family moved to New Orleans in the early 1840s, where they were founding members of the Coliseum Place Baptist Church.

Two of the Block children married siblings who were children of Thomas S. and Mary "Polly" (Penney) Rodney. Zalma, well known as owner of the St. Charles Hotel, married Matilda P. (Rodney) Renfro in 1832. Matilda first married John Renfro, who was murdered while the couple was still newlyweds. Zalma's youngest sister, Rebecca, born after the death of her father, Simon Z. Block, married Matilda's brother, Capt. John Penney Rodney. Rodney is best-known as the captain of the only steamboat built in Cape Girardeau, the Alfred T. Lacey. This boat, built in 1857, counted among its pilots a young Samuel Clemens. The future Mark Twain piloted the Alfred T. Lacey on a trip on the river May 4-21, 1859.

Two of the daughters married less prominent men in Cape Girardeau County in 1837. Virginia wed J.A. Knott, and Julia Ann (or Juliann) married C.B.N. McCabe. Little is known of these two men, but both daughters were widowed or divorced within 10 years. Louisa married Moses Kelley of Pike County, Missouri, in 1828. Kelley came from Pennsylvania, was prominent in his neighborhood, and became a successful farmer in Pike County.

Two of the daughters married men who were merchants in Cape Girardeau. Rachel's husband, William Smoot, died young, and the couple lived in a house on the part of a lot on Meriwether and Spanish streets her mother deeded to them. William H. McKnight, husband of Zipporah Block, owned several properties in Cape Girardeau at various times, and served as the postmaster of Cape Girardeau in 1839-1841.

Lastly, Emeline B. Block, the second youngest, became the wife of Edwin Branch Deane in 1840. Deane is well-known in Cape Girardeau as the architect or architect-builder of many homes of wealthy Cape Girardeau residents of the 19th Century. Among these were the George Clark Boardman (Kellerman) House, Burrough House, Ellis-Wathen-Ranney House (demolished), Glenn House, Sherwood-Minton House and Reynolds House. Deane lived until 1901, and the surviving iconic homes he designed stand as the few physical links to the Block family who were so notable in the early days of Cape Girardeau.